The Gentleman's Quest Read Online Free PDF

Miss Ingram was taking the practice to new extremes.
    “You said we should look to the recipient of the letter for the Mallory.”
    Kit groaned at that logic. “I simply meant that the book wasn’t here, but had been sent away. You can’t hare off to Cheswick based on a hundred-year-old scrap of paper sent to a long-dead relative of the earl.”
    “Why not? Where else should we start?”
    She was so serious that Kit could only stare in amazement. “Do you realize how many times that book could have changed hands?”
    “If it had surfaced, the collecting world would know of it,” she insisted.
    Kit shook his head. “The fellow who received that missive might have hidden it or sent it away. Had he any sense, he would have destroyed it. Or it could have been confiscated with all the others.”
    “Maybe,” Miss Ingram said. “But maybe not. The only way to find out is to look.”
    Again, Kit felt a leap of excitement at the dare, atthe opportunity to move against the dark threat that clung to his home. But he did not see how banging on the Earl of Cheswick’s door would solve anything.
    Perhaps once he got Miss Ingram safely home, Kit would ask Barto for an introduction to the earl. As Viscount Hawthorne, Kit’s old friend moved among the ton and might even know the fellow nobleman. A few discreet inquiries could be made, though Kit doubted the book would ever be found. And as far as he was concerned, it could stay lost for ever.
    Kit shook his head. “I’m just a gentleman farmer, not one of the desperate characters you described, driven by book madness.” Or worse.
    “But you must know more about the Mallory than anyone,” Miss Ingram protested.
    “I can’t even tell you what the book looks like because I never saw it—none of us did,” Kit said. “Which makes going after it a fool’s errand and perilous, as well. You can pursue the letter’s history through the proper channels, if you wish, once you are home, where your uncle can watch over it—and you.”
    For someone who had argued so passionately for her preferred course, Miss Ingram seemed to accept his decision with equanimity. Straightening in her seat, she gave him a slow nod of resignation, and Kit was too glad she had seen reason to question her response. Instead, he leaned forward.
    “Now, here’s my plan.”
     
    Since Mr Marchant’s scheme required some time to organize, Hero took the opportunity to look through the house once more. Although Gothic, it was smallenough to be made into a cozy home without much work. And as she walked through the rooms, Hero began imagining improvements, not the sort that Raven undertook, but the kind that would make it comfortable, inviting…
    Hero shook her head at such fancies. What Mr Marchant did or did not choose to do with his property was none of her concern. Her only concern was acquiring the Mallory, and that was what she was doing, wasn’t it? Hero conveniently ignored the small voice that told her she should have fled, broken wheel or not, refusing Mr Marchant’s offer to escort her.
    By ceding to him, hadn’t she proven her fears were valid, that she couldn’t refuse him? Hero shook her head, unwilling to consider any such possibility. She was only doing what she had to, and if he insisted on coming along, why not make good use of him?
    Stepping into a parlor at the back of the house, Hero realized it was probably a later addition to the original structure, for tall doors led onto a terrace. Although it had been raining yesterday, she could see the rear of the property more clearly now through wisps of fog.
    The sight was not heartening. The blackened stubble that stretched behind the house gave credence to Mr Marchant’s story of a recent fire. Although Hero had questioned the servants about it, they claimed to be newly hired and ignorant of the facts. But something had burned back there. Had the book been destroyed, as well? Hero had only Mr Marchant’s word on that, and she had